The present invention relates to a storage system, a disk array apparatus, a volume presentation method, and a data consistency confirmation method preferably applied to e.g. a storage system that performs volume copy between disk array apparatuses.
In recent years, with the explosive increase in data managed at corporations and other places storage systems that store large volumes of data by mutually connecting a plurality of disk array apparatuses with, e.g. a SAN (Storage Area Network) have been widely used.
In this kind of storage system, volume copy is performed so that all data in a logical volume (hereinafter referred to as a “primary volume”) for storing data in a disk array apparatus that is a backup source (hereinafter referred to as “backup source disk array apparatus”) is copied at a certain time via the SAN into a logical volume for backup (hereinafter referred to as “sub-volume”) in a disk array apparatus that is a backup destination (hereinafter referred to as “backup destination disk array apparatus”), which is a different disk array apparatus, and thereby the data in the primary volume can be backed up.
Moreover, a management arrangement for the above described storage system has been proposed recently, in which a manager belonging to an external management company specializing in backup, manages the backup destination disk array apparatus by outsourcing.
For example, this kind of storage systems includes a system where a management service provider performs data backup services for users by utilizing idle resources owned by a plurality of storage service providers (see JP-A-2003-316635).